Make An Argument
What we can learn from this year’s upfronts: NBC
By Eric Hughes
May 4, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
In week one, I surveyed ABC’s lot and considered its Charlie’s Angels reboot and Marc Cherry-helmed Hallelujah as safe bets for orders. And in week two, I figured CBS would no doubt pick up Person of Interest (from J.J. Abrams) and Hail Mary, which puts a spin on the buddy cop by combining sassy Brit (Minnie Driver) with young comedian (Brandon T. Jackson).
I had planned to cover all four networks - CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox - over a six-week period, but learned earlier today that Fox will present the same day as NBC on Monday, May 16th. Make an Argument next appears on BOP two days after that - May 18th.
So, I’ve forced myself to decide between NBC and Fox this week, and have sided with NBC for really no reason in particular. Had I done this whole thing over again, I probably would have dumped CBS altogether because the creativity in their drama slate is about as exciting as a knitted tree skirt.
To keep things even, though, I’ll probably do something special for Fox once the new primetime season heats up. Maybe I’ll take a good look into what Fox actually picked up and reason which of the newbs will likely get canned. Cool?
So getting on with the task at hand, I have to hand it to NBC. They’ve got what on paper looks like the best fall slate I’ve seen. I’ve whittled its list of ten down to six, and will dig into them first. The final four rounding out the column are projects that I don’t think will make the cut.
Reconstruction
I’ll start things off with Reconstruction, because it makes my list of good bets for fall, but is, as well, the one I’m least confident about. Set in a post-Civil War America, Reconstruction (aka The Crossing) is about a soldier who settles into a Missourian town and is welcomed in as a savior.
The idea doesn’t mesh well with what network typically develops - I can’t remember the last time NBC launched a successful period piece - but being in fourth place, NBC can afford taking more risks.
Playboy
Speaking of periods, NBC’s Playboy - a ‘60s-era historical drama set at Chicago’s Playboy Club - seems to have gained momentum over the past two months or so. It comes from the likes of Brian Grazer and Alan Taylor, and stars Laura Benanti as a 30-year-old Bunny who thinks her days at the club may soon be over because of her age.
Playboy feels like a no-brainer because of the names attached, as well as the humbling fact that NBC would have an excuse to shoot an hour’s worth of bombshell every week for the sake of a TV show.
Prime Suspect
Even though NBC tried unsuccessfully to launch a series based on The Rockford Files last year, I’d like to think the channel will foot a little more confidence this time around in Prime Suspect.
Based on a popular British police procedural that ended its spotty seven-series run in 2006 after 15 years on the air, Prime Suspect starred Helen Mirren as a tough Brit inspector in a male-dominated profession. The American remake’s got Maria Bello, who caught a break about 14 years ago as a med doctor on ER.
Grimm
I’m intrigued whenever competing studios develop similar projects around the same time and then, sometimes, engage in an arms race to see who can beat the other to the finish. We see this all the time in the movies - The Illusionist and The Prestige, Capote and Infamous, Paul Blart and Observe and Report. Even NBC did it to itself when it decided to pick up both Studio 60 and 30 Rock in the same year.
I discussed ABC’s Once Upon a Time a few weeks ago, and can’t help but think insiders from both camps are guilty of stealing a bit from one another. All of a sudden we have two fairy tale-esque dramas on broadcast TV after going X amount of years without one - how perfect.
While ABC’s seems family friendly, NBC’s - called Grimm - is a cop drama set in a universe where Grimm’s Fairy Tales exist.
Wonder Woman
There’s been so much buzz about the reboot that NBC would be silly not to take things to the next step with a 13-episode pickup. Filming in and around the streets of Los Angeles, there’s certainly a level of awareness to Wonder Woman that other prospects aren’t also getting. Arianne Palicki is jumping on cars and running around in her Wonder Woman getup, and plenty of passersby have been milling about to witness it.
Smash
The more I hear about this one, I more I like its prospects. So much so that I think it has the best chance to land a slot on NBC’s fall schedule. Smash, from an executing producing team including the likes of Steven Spielberg, is about a handful of characters working on a Broadway production of a Marilyn Monroe musical. It’s a gold idea, I think, and the success of Glee goes to show that show tunes can carry a series on broadcast.
If picked up - which, I’ll bet, it will be - Smash will reunite NBC with Debra Messing, who not too long ago anchored NBC’s Thursday night comedy slate with Will & Grace. I could see this one airing at 10 p.m., actually. Also signed to the cast are Katherine McPhee and, yes, Angelica Huston. I love me some Angelica.
Missing the mark:
- REM (A thriller about a cop who realizes he’s living in two different realities after an accident). Sounds nifty, but NBC has been burned a few times after trying to develop something special post-Heroes. (I mean, The Cape? The Event?) I just don’t think NBC will risk it with REM.
- 17th Precinct (A sci-fi drama set in a town where magic rules over science). Again, too niche.
- Untitled Stephen Gaghan fka S.I.L.A. aka Special Investigations L.A. (A Traffic-esque drama srt in modern-day Los Angeles). Tipping a cap to CBS’ acronym happy slate, S.I.L.A. would be a good bet if NBC didn’t already have a cop show set in L.A. (Law & Order: L.A.) Although LOLA hasn’t been performing up to snuff, so who knows whether it’ll be back for a second season. Anyway, NBC has done LA cop drama - Southland - and failed, and I’d like to think the network would try something different.
- A Mann’s World (A fiftysomething Beverly Hills hairdresser -- Allan Mann -- struggling to keep his relevancy in modern LA). Again with the LA thing, as if America only has a handful of cities in which to set a television show. A Mann’s World is from the guy who did Sex and the City, but I can’t get past its poor title.